The Fredric Brown Megapack: 33 Classic Science Fiction Stories Read online

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  ARENA

  EXPERIMENT

  KEEP OUT

  THE GEEZENSTACKS

  HALL OF MIRRORS

  EARTHMEN BEARING GIFTS

  IMAGINE

  IT DIDN’T HAPPEN

  RECESSIONAL

  EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK

  PUPPET SHOW

  NIGHTMARE IN YELLOW

  JAYCEE

  PI IN THE SKY

  HAPPY ENDING

  ANSWER

  KNOCK

  REBOUND

  THE STAR MOUSE

  ABOMINABLE

  LETTER TO A PHOENIX

  NOT YET THE END

  ARMAGEDDON

  OF TIME AND EUSTACE WEAVER

  RECONCILIATION

  NOTHING SIRIUS

  PATTERN

  THE YEHUDI PRINCIPLE

  COME AND GO MAD

  SENTRY

  ETAOIN SHRDLU

  THE END

  COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

  The Fredric Brown Megapack is copyright © 2013 by the Estate of Fredric Brown. All rights reserved. For more information, contact Wildside Press. Cover art © AlienCat / Fotolia.

  SPECIAL THANKS

  Special thanks to Barry Malzberg, agent for the Fredric Brown estate, for fascilitating this edition; and to David Datta for assistance with locating and scanning some of Fredric Brown’s short stories. This volume could not exist without them.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  “Arena” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944. Copyright © 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.

  “Keep Out” originally appeared in Amazing Stories, March 1954.

  “Happy Ending” originally appeared in Fantastic Universe, September 1957.

  “Hall of Mirrors” originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, December 1953.

  “Earthmen Bearing Gifts” originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1960.

  “Imagine” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1955. Copyright © 1955 by Fantasy House, Inc.

  “It Didn’t Happen” originally appeared in Playboy, October 1963. Copyright © 1963 by H.M.H. Publishing Company.

  “Recessional” originally appeared in Dude, March 1960. Copyright © 1960 by Mystery Publishing Company, Inc.

  “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” (with Carl Onspaugh) originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1965. Copyright © 1965 by Mercury Press, Inc.

  “Puppet Show” originally appeared in Playboy, November 1962. Copyright © 1962 by H.M.H. Publishing Company.

  “Nightmare in Yellow” originally appeared in Dude, May 1961. Copyright © 1961 by Mystery Publishing Company, Inc.

  “Jaycee” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Copyright © 1955 by Fantasy House, Inc.

  “Pi in the Sky” originally appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1945. Copyright © 1945 by Standard Magazine, Inc.

  “Answer” originally appeared in Angels and Spaceships. Copyright © 1954 by Fredric Brown.

  “The Geezenstacks” originally appeared in Weird Tales, September 1943. Copyright © 1943 by Popular Fiction Publishing Company.

  “Knock” originally appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1948. Copyright © 1948 by Standard Magazines, Inc.

  “Rebound” originally appeared in Nightmares and Geezenstacks. Copyright © 1961 by Fredric Brown.

  “The Star Mouse” originally appeared in Planet Stories, February 1942. Copyright © 1942 by Love Romances Publishing Company, Inc.

  “Abominable” originally appeared in Dude, March 1960. Copyright © 1960 by Mystery Publishing Company, Inc.

  “Letter to a Phoenix” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, August 1949. Copyright © 1949 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.

  “Not Yet the End” originally appeared in Captain Future, Winter 1941. Copyright © 1941 by Standard Publishing Company.

  “Armageddon” originally appeared in Unknown, August 1941. Copyright © 1941 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.

  “Experiment” and “Sentry” originally appeared as “Two Timer” in Galaxy Science Fiction, February 1954.

  “Of Time and Eustace Weaver” originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 1964 by Davis Publications, Inc.

  “Reconciliation” originally appeared in Angels and Spaceships. Copyright © 1954 by Fredric Brown.

  “Nothing Sirius” originally appeared in Captain Future, spring 1944. Copyright © 1944 by Standard Publishing Company.

  “Pattern” originally appeared in originally appeared in Angels and Spaceships. Copyright © 1954 by Fredric Brown.

  “The Yehudi Principle” originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1944. Copyright © 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.

  “Come and Go Mad” originally appeared in Weird Tales. Copyright © 1949 by Popular Fiction Publishing Company.

  “Etaoin Shrdlu” originally appeared in Unknown Worlds, February 1942. Copyright © 1942 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.

  “The End” originally appeared in Nightmares and Geezenstacks. Copyright © 1961 by Fredric Brown.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Fredric Brown (1906-1972) is perhaps best remembered for his use of humor and his mastery of the “short-short” form (these days called flash fiction)—stories of one to three pages, often with ingenious plotting devices and surprise endings. He was just as accomplished in the mystery field as in science fiction, and he won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his first novel, The Fabulous Clipjoint.

  I discovered Fredric Brown’s work in the mid 1970s through the wonderful Science Fiction Hall of Fame anthology series. The concept of the series was that each volume contained some of the greatest science fiction stories published before 1965, as voted on by the membership of the Science Fiction Writers of America (and then winnowed down by each volume’s editor). The theory being, of course, that science fiction writers ought to know the best of the best.

  SFWA members selected Fredric Brown’s story “Arena,” which is in this collection, as one of the top 20 science fiction stories. (“Arena” was also adapted as an episode of the original Star Trek TV series—you will probably recognize it as soon as you start reading.) I have chosen to lead off The Fredric Brown Megapack with “Arena” because, for anyone new to Fredric Brown’s fantastic work, this story is an ideal starting point.

  But if you are already familiar with Brown’s work, I hope you will find a few tales new to you here. For the others, you will doubtless enjoy revisiting the work of one of science fiction’s masters.

  Enjoy!

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes
John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

  A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

  The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  MYSTERY

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Charlie Chan Megapack*

  The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

  The Detective Megapack

  The Father Brown Megapack

  The Girl Detective Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

  The First Mystery Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Philo Vance Megapack*

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Raffles Megapack

  The Sherlock Holmes Megapack

  The Victorian Mystery Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure Megapack

  The Baseball Megapack

  The Cat Story Megapack

  The Second Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Christmas Megapack

  The Second Christmas Megapack

  The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor Megapack

  The Dog Story Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The Horse Story Megapack

  The Military Megapack

  The Russian Short Story Megapack

  The Sea-Story Megapack

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Second Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Dragon Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Martian Megapack

  The E. Nesbit Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Science-Fantasy Megapack

  The First Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Science Fiction Megapack

  The Third Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

  The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Steampunk Megapack

  The Time Travel Megapack

  The Weird Fiction Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  HORROR

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Ghost Story Megapack

  The Second Ghost Story Megapack

  The Third Ghost Story Megapack

  The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

  The Horror Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Macabre Megapack

  The Second Macabre Megapack

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The Mummy Megapack

  The Occult Detective Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Bram Stoker Megapack

  The Vampire Megapack

  The Weird Fiction Megapack

  The Werewolf Megapack

  WESTERNS

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The Buffalo Bill Megapack

  The Cowboy Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

  The Western Megapack

  The Second Western Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

  The Dare Boys Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The G.A. Henty Megapack

  The Girl Detectives Megapack

  The E. Nesbit Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pinocchio Megapack

  The Rover Boys Megapack

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

  The Tom Swift Megapack

  AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Second Fredric Brown Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

  The C.J. Henderson Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

/>   The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***

  The Arthur Machen Megapack**

  The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

  The Talbot Mundy Megapack

  The E. Nesbit Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

  The Saki Megapack

  The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Bram Stoker Megapack

  The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack

  * Not available in the United States

  ** Not available in the European Union

  ***Temporarily Unavailable.

  OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

  The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

  The Wildside Book of Fantasy

  The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

  Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

  ARENA

  Carson opened his eyes and found himself looking upwards into a flickering blue dimness.

  It was hot, and he was lying on sand, and a rock embedded in the sand was hurting his back. He rolled over to his side, off the rock, and then pushed himself up to a sitting position.

  I’m crazy, he thought. Crazy—or dead—or something.

  The sand was blue, bright blue. And there wasn’t any such thing as bright blue sand on Earth or any of the planets. Blue sand under a blue dome that wasn’t the sky nor yet a room, but a circumscribed area—somehow he knew it was circumscribed and finite, even though he couldn’t see to the top of it.

  He picked up some of the sand in his hand and let it run through his fingers. It trickled down onto his bare leg. Bare?

  He was stark naked, and already his body was dripping perspiration from the enervating heat, coated blue with sand wherever sand had touched it. Elsewhere his body was white.